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Email dave@davesmock.com

Mar. 31, 2004

Moving along smartly. . .
Hello April! This wraps up the March 2004 BLOG page. You will still be able to refer to items in this March BLOG by using the Blog Archive, at the top of the page of the April 2004 BLOG.

Mar. 30, 2004

Back to normal, weather wise. Fifty and drizzle this morning. But sunny and 60 plus by this afternoon. We set records, yesterday, with that eighty degree high.
Called the Honda dealer. They had some good news! Waiting on a part. A fuel 'petcock'. Not enough gas going into one side of the motor. Right. Who knows? But, it wasn't the timing belt, a dreaded three hundred dollar repair. So, I told them to fix the horn, while they're at it. Here's hoping. I do love that scooter. Vrooom! I'm still betting that I can get the front wheel off the ground, and live.
We are one signatures (mine and Ann's) away from a new used car. Maybe tomorrow. Then drive down to Seattle and pick it up. This will be big fun! Wait 'til you see it!
The kitchen is torn up, again, as work has started on the remaining two walls, and ceiling. I haven't had time to play with the video compression software, etc. Use your imagination.

Mar. 29, 2004

Sat around all day (a beautiful 80 degree day, too) waiting for the bank to return a phone call. The loan lady was sick this morning. Coughed into the phone all afternoon, just so I'd believe it, I guess. So, not much car buying progress. Sometime this week, maybe. But the seller won't be free again until. . .? Who knows?
OK. Did add those pictures to the BOATBLOG 
REALLY need to cut the grass. . .

Mar. 28, 2004

Added a few pix to the Boat Blog. Well, I'm going to. . .

Very pleasant day in Anacortes. Temps near seventy. The lawn is going crazy.
Looking forward to an eventful week.
Looking forward to hearing about my motorbike?! Lotsa' scooters all over town, this fine day.

Mar. 27, 2004

Cable company removes some sort of 'filter' and coughs up a new modem. It's 'happy hour' and I'm getting online OK! Maybe that was it?
Added a few pix to the March
March stuff page.
You know how to get there?
Got rid of an annoying recurring pop up at start up window on the laptop. Took a couple hours! Was a virus, kind of spyware thing. THIS SITE offered a solution.

Mar. 25, 2004

YAY! Evelyn gets her braces. (read, lets me take a picture.)

'95 Saab still for sale. Bank is silent. Accountant says return is 'OK'. Right. Here's hoping.

Damp and windy again today. Trying to word a pinball thing.

Mar. 24, 2004

The rains come. No word from the accountant, the bank, the seller, the scooter dealer.
Plenty of things to do around here, notwithstanding.

It's Tuesday, what will this day bring?
Well, this is an easy way to blog.
Yesterday brought such pleasant temps that I was hard pressed to get serious about anything. We did get up another section of the wainscoating. Even dinner was simple - pizza!

I guess the 'referers' thing is over. Thanks to Stephen, for thinking it up, and offering his scripts for free. They are a tad over my head.

Mar. 22, 2004

It's Monday! What will this day bring?

Mar. 21, 2004

A trip to the
DUMP.  Months in the making. Stuff that's been sitting in the alley, leaning against the back fence, since last summer. Finally gone!
Load all the junk (wood scraps, drywall scraps, yard waste, odds and ends) into the truck bed. Try to secure it with a tarp. It's a twenty minute ride to the dump, over the big roads. Get up to hiway speed, and retarp. Go ten miles and, retarp. Not many places under a Toyota Tacoma to fasten bungee cords.

Work continues on the
KITCHEN.  The sink counter is shaping up to be the 'big thing'.

Stopped by the Honda (motorcycle) dealer. Said, 'Hey! Just in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop in and see if we're on the same page. I dropped my scooter off a week ago, etc.'
With a very droll look, the patient service manager spoke these words, 'I told ya' when ya' dropped it off, we're a week behind.' Looking at me over his glasses.
'Oh yeah', says I. 'I conveniently forgot that part. Sunny days, and all.'
'Right. You and everybody else, and their brother. Should get to yours later today or Tuesday.'
Not sure I understand THAT logic? Maybe they're closed on Mondays?

Still trying to add some pictures to the March page. One of these days.

Mar. 19, 2004

Ann makes the most of her free time, starts painting the kitchen. Looks great! Gets me motivated to do the yard work. A beautiful spring day in Anacortes. Close to sixty. Pix will go to the monthly page. Sure wish the Honda shop would call?

Mar. 18, 2004

Adding late news ~ Evelyn gets her braces! Won't let me take a picture, yet. She's doing well.
The '95 Saab we looked at last weekend is still for sale. We are getting closer to financing.
Ann is off tomorrow!

Didn't get much posted yesterday. May not today, either. Having a small problem: Starting a couple days ago, when I click on anything 'Quicktime' the computer freezes. Odd? Uninstalling and reinstalling the Quicktime software hasn't helped. I'm sort of stymied? HELP!

Found a fix - uninstall and then reinstall an OLDER version of Quicktime. It is only the newest version that has the crashing problem. I guess new isn't always better. . . 'Googling' the problem (quicktime crashes windows) led to the solution. The resources we have available are only limited by our imagination, and willingness to think of trying them.

Now to do something constructive. (yawn. . .)

Mar. 17, 2004

Mar. 16, 2004

Happy Birthday to ERIC! Celebrated yesterday,
AT BARB'S. 

'95 Saab
SAAB  still for sale. No doubt due to the high asking price. Still no word from the accountant, which means no paperwork for the lending institution. Fortunately, no hurry, either.

Finally installed some USB 2 ports. They are faster, for downloading those large files from the camera. The scanner also can utilize these faster inputs. Haven't tried it (scanner) yet. Trying to learn some video editing. Slow going.

Mar. 14, 2004

After getting 'Big Bob' (Ann's Toyota Tacoma) some minor work this morning, and enjoying donuts and coffee at the Donut Shoppe while we waited, we were off to Seattle for lunch with Fae
Fae in Seattle   and a first look at a used Saab.

Of course, this information came from the seller. It doesn't even mention that the car is a convertible!

We drove the car. It is nice. But, we don't have 'money', read; financing - nor are we sure we want to spend anywhere near that much. The first of the week will tell the story. This is a BIG step up from a 500 dollar beater 1988 Saab. Of which I have a rusty one in my driveway. That is about
SHOT.

Adam made good and delivered some pictures of Hank's eightieth birthday celebration.
HANK'S 80th  You will enjoy these!

Mar. 13, 2004

Guess whom I noticed is blogging again?
Right! Jeroen! Jeroen's Semi Blog

More on the subject of servers. . .
The funny thing, is that I had no sooner mentioned (in this blog, a few days ago) that I was way over my allotted bandwidth on the server, than I received an email from them. Which went:

Hello

I am writing this email to discuss disk usage for your account named ******.
Your site seems to have a large number of files in your server space. These days it is over 79+MB. It has exceeded the allocated disk space allowance for the low price basic plan you are currently on. The basic account at that price caters for up to 70MB, please upgrade your account to the premium plan ASAP as it caters for websites that have disk space requirements of 79MB.
You can upgrade your account from within the Members section blah blah blah.

I had thought my plan allowed only 50 MB, so I wasn't as far over as I'd believed. None the less, I'm now on the next plan, which I was able to sell myself (as a reseller) for about what the 'basic' plan goes for over the counter, so to speak. This next level also supports a 'store', the next step for the RR Dave site. Time to move those switch keys!

Mar. 12, 2004

I took my own advice, and upgraded my
SERVER server 101 account. Many extras! 200 MB's of webspace. More.

Hellooooo, Mardi. . ...

Mar. 11, 2004

We've been busy upgrading the
Grinder Hatchet grinder.

Also added a media card reader.

Acts like a small drive. Sure speeds up downloading (up down?) from the camera, and saves battery wear. One may write to the media card, as well as download. Haven't been able to read any of the 'write' pictures back into the camera, yet.

Hope to go look at that '95 Saab this weekend! Seems a tad over priced. We'll see.

Mar. 10, 2004

Ron sends along this
FLASH VIDEO  flash video link, that says a lot. About how gullible we are, etc. If you get one of those emails that proclaim something odd, you can check it out yourself, before you forward it along. Then you can avoid perpetuating a hoax. Firstly, you might merely 'Google' the subject line, (type in into Google.com)

GOOGLE 

which will usually take you to a site that reveals the truth. There are also several sites that specialize in
Urban Legends  'myth/hoax' busting. If you use Norton or McAfee, they also keep track of hoaxes. Go to their website and type the name of a suspect email subject into their 'search' box. Hoaxes take up time and bandwidth, are nearly as bothersome as actual viruses.

Mar. 09, 2004

The
SHED. 

For whatever it's worth, my backyard shed is a special place. Maybe because we don't have a basement. My tools are all out there. It smells of solvents and oil. Stored machines. I go there to call my dad. It is organized the way I want it, mostly. There is a bit too much stuff in there, but that will be fixed soon, with the shed addition.

A friend of mine talks the same way about his darkroom.

HOME PAGE  gets its five thousandth hit today. I was trying to remember when I launched? I'd have to say 1997, since the site averages three hits a day. One or two of those are web crawlers. So, my next step on the
SERVER  will be to upgrade to a plan that will also show where the hits are coming from, type browser, etc. I hasten to add that I am a reseller for them, and can sell you webspace cheaper than you can buy it from them, which is how the reseller program works. Or, you can just buy directly from them, they are VERY competitive, pricewise, and offer so much. They have just about grandfathered me in, on my 'BASIC' plan, since I am WAY over the allowed webspace.

RAILROADDAVE  gets more hits, around fifteen a day. And now this blog is closing in on that. Meaning, folks come directly here, instead of thru the front door. I'm thinking what this means. Time to re-organize and upgrade the website!

Mar. 08, 2004

Hey!
Adam's Website Adam has already sent one of the pictures that he took yesterday. Thank you. He is adding the balance to his website, soon!
Family on the porch 

Rain. Two days in a row. Warm, but damp. Mist sort of rain. Inside of the Saab still a tad damp. . .
Spent an hour or so making Back Up CD's for the information on my computer hard drive for the last two months. I was a month tardy. Some time last year we went to the storage method of; everything by month, instead of catagory. Makes backing up much easier. Then one must merely remember to do it. All it takes for that, is to remember the feeling of having lost six months worth of documents, photos, etc. Which is what happened the one and only time one of our hard drives ever failed. It only takes once. Then you back up. To find backed up material it is only necessary to remember about what month it happened? Things can be sorted catagorically within each month, of course.

Fixed a laptop for John, one of Dick's buddies. His I.E. home page got hijacked to a page that he didn't want. It wouldn't change back to the old one, or to 'blank'. Weird. Never saw THAT before! A small program hidden in the window's program list was the culprit. That and a tune up and he's all set.

We're not sure how this might load over your modem, but it sure shows some
Unusual Flash skills.  Click on, 'There it is'.

Mar. 07, 2004

Good to hear from Mardi, visiting at Dad's. Good to hear from Barb, planning Eric's birthday, coming up on the fifteenth. Good to talk to Dad, too, who was enjoying the company of John and Caroline, Adam and Ann (plus kids) and Lee. And Mardi. Sure do miss them! Also had the pleasure of wishing Hank a Happy eightieth Birthday!

Ann has had to work two of her three days off. Dang.

Mar. 06, 2004

Shopping news: the Saab
SAAB photo dealer in Seattle has (or thinks he will, as of tomorrow) a used one owner 1995 convertible. Stick shift. Arrangements are in place, and wouldn't this be fun?

Thanks to BILL for this link to some spectacular
Pictures from Hubble 

The rains come. Must be spring? For some peculiar reason I left the cover off the Goldwing last night. As I went out this morning to try and shut the barn door after the horse was out, so to speak, and get the cover on - I noticed that wasn't the worst of things. I'd also left the sunroof open on the Saab. It was a beautiful day, yesterday. It was a wet ride to school this morning for the girls and I. We sat on towels. The Saab's ignition switch is in the console (along with the power window buttons). They sit in a classy looking depression that was also a small lake when we got in the car. Unlike a '61 Olds that I once owned - that also had switches in the console, (which never worked again after too much liquid in the form of a large coke found its way into them) - the Saab fired right up, even tho the key was two inches under water. I felt inordinately proud of myself for sticking my fingers under the water and turning the key! Somewhat of a relief, but no surprise. It has been an amazingly dependable automobile, tho a tad hard starting in the rain these last few months. The recent (and LAST) tune-up seems to have solved that particular problem, nicely. New plugs, wires, and distributor cap. Now we drive it 'til it drops, or perhaps becomes a trade in. The Saab dealer will take it, I'm sure. And offer far more than its actual worth (which is about zilch). They just tack it back on the other end, but it makes financing easy.

Late breaking news! At just after 10 AM the sun breaks through! Temps near fifty. There is more water (in the form of condensation) inside the Saab, than out. Maybe I'll roll down the windows?

Mar. 05, 2004

As a former
Railroaddave Amtrak employee, and in the general interest, this is a great link with a
Positive point of view  towards Amtrak labor. Thanks to
RoiBall Roy.

Used car shopping has commenced.

Mar. 04, 2004

Saab story. Oh no, it's the end of Sobby. In the final analysis, it develops that I have driven the Saab roughly 10,500 miles a year, which is about 2000 miles a year under the national average, for a period of (about) five years. Looking back and doing the math, it works out to about $1000 out of my pocket for every 10,000 miles that I've driven the Saab. Total cost, (including insurance) plus gas. I think I can live with this. Used cars are cheap to drive, if you can find a decent mechanic. I've been lucky with used cars and lucky with mechanics. Would you like to know how to find a mechanic? Ask the folks at your local auto parts store for a good one. They know. It was my new mechanic, here in Anacortes, that alerted me to the fact that it might not be wise to put any more money into the Saab. Of course, my wife and friends have been suggesting the same thing for quite some time. He suggested that although the motor is sound and will probably run forever, the car has severe rust problems. Soon, important parts of the automobile will begin to fall off. Overall this is not unexpected on a vehicle that lived most of its life in the State of Michigan. Salted roads and all that. After all, the Saab was built 16 years ago. Maybe 17. Automobiles of similar vintage here in the great Pacific Northwest are rust free. So, I guess this means we'll begin shopping for a second vehicle. We have already established some important parameters; stick shift. Convertible. Some sort of a backseat. You will recall that I brought the Saab here (to Anacortes) on a trailer
Trailer to Anacortes, behind a U-Haul, just about one year ago. You will recall that the Saab was a $500 vehicle in the first-place, bought during emergency situations. I had hoped that I wouldn't roll the Saab off the trailer, only to have it up and die a week or two later. Fortunately, it didn't. In fact it's still running just fine. It's just in danger of falling apart, right out from under me. Dang.

Mar. 03, 2004

Out on the big water! Calibrate the new auto pilot. A lot more fun in the boat than it was in the car.
Grand Banks

Mar. 02, 2004

Added to the
BOATBLOG.  Local floating color.

Mar. 01, 2004

Welcome to weblogging from davesmock.com for the month of March, 2004
Going to take the camera(s) over to Dick's, for his birthday party. This is actually still the 29th of Feb, but - oh well.

Happy Birthday to Dick!
March Pictures 
At this moment, most of the pictures are still at Dick's, on his computer. We hope to remedy that situation later today. Alene and Bob, Barbara and Paul, and our gang - Cass, Fae, Evelyn, Ivey - made up the celebrants.

The fellow that runs the 'referral system',
Stephen Downes 
has a wallopping good weblog.